Cathy Sharp - The Orphans of Halfpenny Street

Sally was as attractive as she was pleasant, with reddish brown hair cut short so that it framed her face and brushed her smooth forehead with a pretty fringe. Her eyes were a greenish blue and honest, instantly making her everyone’s friend. In contrast, Michelle had hair that was almost inky midnight blue-black, cut in a shoulder-length pageboy which she wore clipped back under her cap for work; her eyes were a deep blue that could cloud over when she was distressed. Dressed in their different uniforms neither of them appeared at their best, but anyone seeing the girls for the first time would be bound to take a second glance, for they were both outstanding in their separate ways. The different uniforms were necessary, because the nurses were in charge of the sick bay and the isolation ward, and the carers were expected to check with the nurse on duty before attending to sick children. They each had their own table in the dining room, although Michelle often sat with Sally or another carer rather than by herself if she was the only one on duty. Some of the nurses were inclined to look down their noses at the carers, especially when they came from a different class. Michelle, however, was an East End girl, and in the few months she’d been there, she’d made friends with everyone.

‘Don’t worry about Sister. It’s the monthly meeting; she’s always a bit touchy on those days,’ Sally said, eyes bright with amusement as she sank down with her own tea and a vaguely gingery ginger biscuit made by the kitchen staff. ‘She’s not a bad old stick, you know. She can be harsh, and she’s strict to work for, but she really cares for these kids deep down.’

‘Yes, I do know,’ Michelle said, the last of her ill temper vanishing as she looked at her colleague. ‘Are you going out tonight? A few of us are visiting the Odeon in Bethnal Green. We can get a bus that takes you right outside the door, and it’s Gone With the Wind this week – it’s come back again.’

‘Oh, I’ve seen that,’ Sally sighed dreamily. ‘It was lovely and I’d love to see it again – but I’m going dancing at the Pally with my brother Jim, Madge and Brenda tonight …’

‘Who is Madge?’

‘Jim and Madge have been courting for two years,’ Sally said. ‘She would’ve got married ages ago, but he’s saving up so that they can start off right with a decent house and proper furniture. He says he’s never going to settle for a dump like we had before we got re-housed. We’ve got a lovely modern council house now, much better than the old back-to-back houses they’ve replaced. In some ways Hitler did us a favour, bombing the area. It meant the council had to get us moved so that they could pull the lot down – so we were first on the list.’

‘We’re still stuck in a two-up and two-down back-to-back with no bathroom. Hitler missed us, though the houses in the next street got a direct hit.’

Sally Rush’s family were lucky. One of the council’s first projects after the war had been to clear the area where they had lived: a small cluster of six old houses close to the Docks. It was just the start of a huge clearance scheme, which was going to take years and hundreds of thousands of pounds to complete. The problem was that the furnaces couldn’t produce enough bricks, and timber was scarce, and so in a lot of areas they were putting up temporary prefabs.

‘What do you think of all the fuss about Princess Elizabeth’s wedding?’ Sally said, glancing at the newspaper lying on the table next to her. ‘Fancy her going to marry Philip Mountbatten. He’s the son of a Greek prince, isn’t he? – and very handsome …’

‘Yes, he looks nice,’ Michelle agreed. ‘I wish I’d been there outside the palace when it was announced in July. They say the crowds went mad with delight at the news.’

‘I wonder what she’ll do about a wedding dress. You have to save coupons for ages to buy a proper gown. I know there’s a little more material about now, but she will need yards and yards.’

‘Oh, I expect they’ll find some extra coupons for her – she deserves it. I reckon the whole royal family have been bricks. They could have gone off to the wilds of Scotland and been safe in one of their big houses, but they chose to stay here with the rest of us.’

‘Yes, I love the King – he’s so like everyone’s favourite family doctor …’

‘Sally! You can’t say that about the King!’

‘Why not? He’s kind and comforting and I don’t think he would mind.’

‘Probably not,’ Michelle agreed, smiling, then, ‘What about going dancing together another week?’

Whatever Sally was about to answer was lost as they heard a child’s scream of rage and then the door of the staff room was flung open and a rather scruffy-looking boy with red hair rushed in followed by Alice Cobb, another of the carers. A little plumper than the other two, she was very pretty. She was wearing a big rubber apron over her uniform and it was obvious that her intention had been to bathe the lad. Her pretty face was blotched with red, her soft fair hair sticking to her forehead, and she was obviously feeling hot and bothered.

The lad looked angry rather than frightened, and seeing a cake knife lying on the table, picked it up and held it in front of him like a weapon as Alice advanced on him purposefully.

‘Put that down, Billy,’ Alice said in a severe tone. ‘You’ve been told you have to have a bath when you’re admitted for the first time. Nurse needs to examine you to make sure …’ She gave a little scream and flinched back as he made a threatening gesture at her. ‘I shall tell Sister on you and she’ll send you to a home for bad boys. We don’t want the likes of you here.’

‘What do you think you’re doing, Billy Baggins?’ Sally asked and got calmly to her feet. ‘You should be ashamed. Your father would skin you if he saw you threaten Nurse like that …’

‘He ain’t around to skin me no more,’ Billy said but grinned and lowered his arm. ‘Wot you doin’ ’ere, Sally Rush?’

‘I work here, that’s what,’ she said. ‘Give me the knife, Billy. You know you’re not going to use it. You’re not a bad boy so don’t be a dafty.’

‘She wanted me ter take orf me clothes in front of ’er!’ he retorted indignantly. ‘Then she yelled at me when I kicked her shins so I hopped it …’ He looked at the cakes on the table. ‘Blimey, they look good. I ain’t had nuthin’ decent since me nanna went in the hospital.’

‘Well, you can have a corned beef sandwich with pickle and a rock cake when you’ve had your bath,’ Sally said. ‘Come on, I shan’t look at your willie so you can stop making a dafty of yourself. You don’t want to go where they give you nothing but bread and water, do you?’

‘Nah.’ He gave in and passed her the cake knife by its handle. ‘I reckon I don’t mind you givin’ me a bath – if yer promise not ter look.’

‘I promise,’ Sally said but didn’t give way to the smile that Michelle knew was hovering. ‘Nurse might have to examine you if you’ve got sores but she’ll let you keep your underpants on.’

‘Ain’t got none. Ain’t got no sores neither. Me nanna made sure of that when she looked after me. I ’ad a bath only last month, afore she went in the ’ospital.’

‘You will have clean pants now. Your clothes need a good boil, so you’ll be issued with new things. Clothes that fit. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’

‘Suppose so …’ He stared at her, clearly still reluctant, but when Alice took off her apron and handed it to Sally, he submitted, asking as they headed to the bathrooms, ‘You promise you’ll give me that sandwich and a cake?’

Michelle smiled at Alice as she flopped down in an empty chair and kicked off her shoes, sympathising with her friend. ‘Sally has a way with the stubborn ones, doesn’t she?’